Todd Avery and the Automatons
by A.M.Fantasia
Summary: Todd Avery is an aspiring engineer who goes to Britian to study under Dante Howell. Together they develop a new and powerfull technology, and when the word about it gets out it becomes a war to keep it safe.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Todd Avery

Todd Avery hated flying. The zeppelin ride across the Atlantic had been wave after wave of nausea and terror for him. The giant balloon had been battered this way and that by harsh winds, steered only by small wings that helped change its direction. Why didn't I take the boat? He wondered trying to hold down his stomach for the fifth time that day. When they had finally set down on the outskirts of some small English town Todd had rushed outside and had almost kissed the ground from his euphoria. Once his stomach had caught up with him he joined the throng of people who were waiting to reclaim their luggage. Todd mad his way through the crowd. Pushing past men and women speaking tongues he didn't recognize he grabbed his own bag, a small brown battered suitcase now adorned with the many stickers that the flight staff had slapped on it. Todd hauled the heavy suitcase to the side of the gravel road they had landed near. Todd didn't exactly know where they had landed; on one side he saw country side. A rolling mass of green broken only by scattered forests and the small buildings of a village. On the other a metropolis seemed to appear out of nowhere. Skyscrapers and the sound of a large city echoed down to the valley Todd was waiting at. This had to be London, he had never been to a place so large before he hadn't even been to New York City back home, but he had seen pictures of it. Large buildings that touched the sky and people and carriages as far as the eye could see. He imagined what it would be like to live in such a place, Todd quickly felt claustrophobic. Staring at the city in the distance Todd sat by his suitcase. He'd soon by in there living and learning with Dante Howell and starting his apprenticeship. Absent mindedly he pulled out the letter he had received from him not that long ago. It was in black ink, and hand written in a sort of scrolling childish type of print that took him a little while to decipher when he first got it. It went something…

Dear Todd Avery,

As I'm sure you know it is decided that you are to become my new apprentice. I expect you by the tenth of November, that's nearly a month, so don't be late. Anyway you'll be picked up from outside the city as planned, don't worry your little head I've arrange everything.

Dante S. Howell

Obviously a man of few words Todd stuffed the letter back into the pocket of his overcoat and waited for the transportation Dante had promised him. He looked around expecting to see some type of machine coming to get him. To his surprise the zeppelin and all the other passengers had left already, leaving Todd alone on the English country side. He sighed and flopped down onto the grass, and closed his eyes. Todd was awakened not that long afterwards by the sound of hooves. He bolted up to a sitting position and saw a carriage coming down the road. It had once been black but was now a dark shade of gray from age. It was pulled by large horse that could have carried a fully armored knight if they went back seven centuries. The horse stopped the ground with each step it took, not the most graceful beast Todd had ever seen. Assuming it was going to the small village down the road Todd laid back down until the carriage stopped in front of him. He got up and stared at it, this was his pickup? He was expecting something a bit more, extravagant for an inventor. The driver was a sort of ferity man; he kept looking this way and that, his stovetop hat bouncing with the rhythm of the turns. He also looked and smelt like he spent as much time in the stables as the horse did. Finally he looked down and said in a surprisingly deep craggily voice.

"You Todd Avery?" So this was his pickup, Todd tried not to look disappointed.

"Yes"

The driver tipped his hat revealing a balding scalp, Todd was thankful for his mass of red hair. "Well Mr. Avery, Allen Vincent Macias at your service." Allen offered Todd a dirty hand which he shook; the man had a strong grip. No doubt from handling the horses. Allen hoped of the driver's seat and grabbed Todd's luggage with one hand. Todd was surprised that Allen couldn't have been much taller than he was, about five feet two inches. How many centimeters was that? Todd did the calculations in his head as Allen loaded his luggage, and opened the door for Todd.

"In you go Mister Avery, can't keep the doctor waiting." He said giving a wide grin; he was missing a couple of teeth.

"Right." Todd climbed into the carriage and hefted the suitcase onto the seat next to him. Allen closed the door and whipped the carriage back into motion. Todd sat down into the velvet seats, they were surprisingly comfy. They sunk in just enough so you didn't feel the rocking of the carriage but supported you so it didn't feel like you were sinking into an abyss. Todd tried to keep himself awake in the warm carriage; he opened the window and looked out at the scenery. They had already entered the city, apparently what the horse lacked in grace it made up for with speed. Todd stared opened mouthed out of the window. There were shops, street vendors and performers on every street. People hustled this way and that, women out for a day of shopping eyed the shops, men in business suits walked in and out of official looking buildings muttering incoherent things to themselves, and children played on the sidewalks or eyed the latest toy or sweet. Buildings towered all around them, apartments, government buildings, houses. All of the buildings in the city seemed to want to touch the sky. It was all exciting and addicting, the energy, the life of it all made Todd forget his fears about the city. As they progressed through the city town Todd saw the famous landmarks that he had only seen in postcards from his Aunt Claudia. There was Big Ben, Parliament, the Tower of London, they all seemed larger to life to him. Perhaps he'll convince Mr. Howell to take him on a tour of London later on.

The carriage took a turn into what looked like a residential area. Apartment houses lined the street in every color, gray, brown, brick; Todd even swore that he saw a pink one down the end of the line. They took another turn and were now near the outskirts of the city. It was roomier here; the housed on this end each had a little garden near the front walkway. Full of roses, tulips, lilacs, and numerous flowers Todd had no idea what they were called. Near the end of this street loomed an intimidating square tower, three chimneys jutted out from the roof each giving off a healthy amount of black smoke. The tower seemed to be connected to a small three story white house about the same height of the tower. A long walkway blocked by an open wrought iron gate lead the way to the front door of the house.

"Here we are Howell manor." Allen said laughing at his own joke. Todd smiled following along as he got out of the carriage with his luggage.

"Don't worry." Allen patted Todd on the shoulder, "The Howells are nice people, they'll look after you fine enough." A small explosion issued from the tower, taking away whatever reassurance Allen had put in Todd.

"Although they could be a bit noisy." Another explosion and the horse gave out a nervous whinny. "Well I best be getting Black here back to the stables. Good luck to you lad!"

"Thank you!" Todd called back as Allen and Black rode down the street and disappeared down the corner.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Howells

Giving a big sigh Todd grabbed his suitcase and trudged down the gravel road as another explosion shook the chimneys. Todd knocked on the brass knocker as hard as he could to be heard over the notice coming to the tower. It was only seconds until he heard hurried footsteps coming to the door. A device that looked like a telescope descended from the bottom of the roof that covered the door. It was straight until the very end where it jutted out at a clear ninety degree angle. It twirled around until it set its gaze apron Todd.

"Um..." Todd never addressed a telescope before but it was the only one to talk to so it seemed fine to him. "Hello, I'm Todd Avery, here to see Mr. Howell." he smiled weakly as he reached for the letter that Dante had sent him. He opened it and showed it to the telescope waving it in front of its' lens. "See?"

The telescope retreated back into the roof and Todd heard locks being undone on the other side of the door. When it stopped it flung open to reveal a woman. She was a tall lady dressed in a nice blue and white gown, her graying brown hair was tied up in a tight bun. She was a woman of convenience and necessity, not of fashion. She looked down and examined Todd with a fixed stare.

"So you're the new apprentice?"

"Yes ma'am."  
"Very well, follow me."

She led Todd around the side of the house to the entrance of the tower, another explosion sounded this time with a screech that sounded harshly like metal on metal.

"What is that?" Todd said before he could stop himself.

"It's the workshop, don't worry you'll get used to the noise."

She put her hand on the brass door knob but pulled her collar up to her nose to protect herself from the smoke before she opened the door. Todd followed her example and together they plunged into the dark abyss of the workshop. They had entered the first floor which looked like some sort of drafting room with drawing tables, ink bottles, and a peg board full of unfinished drawings. Todd wished he could've seen them but the smoke was too thick for him to make out much of it. The woman led Todd down a spiral stair case that ran down the middle of the Tower.

It was hard to see anything on the way down, the smoke was so thick it blocked out the light from the lamps the ran along the wall. The only was Todd found his way to the bottom was by following the loud chorus of cursing issuing from below. Thankfully someone had opened a window and the smoke dissapated outside into the sky. The workshop slowly came into view as the smoke disappeared. It was a large room, full of tools, machines, and mechanisms that whizzed and whirred around. There were small projects, and metal shavings littering the workbenches, tools hung on pegs along with blueprints of machines he never could have conceived of. In the middle of it all were two men. They were both covered head to toe in sot from the malfunctioning machine in the corner that still spewed out the black mass. One man was by an opened window that seemed to lure the smoke out of the workshop. Todd would have to thank him later. The other man was hunched over the machine and swearing curses in every direction, taking no notice of what was going on. The man at the window had noticed their arrival and was making his way towards them as he wiped his face clean with a handkerchief from his vest pocket. The first thing that came to Todd's mind was that the guy would've been good looking if his hair and face wasn't still covered in a think mass of sot.

"You must be the new apprentice. Sorry about the mess, but that blasted machine has been giving us problems for weeks."

"What are you building?" Todd asked perhaps a bit quickly, but the excitement was too much to keep in.  
"Oh, nothing much..." The man said looking if anything a little embarrassed.  
"Don't be modest Tom." Mrs. Howell leaned in and whispered in Todd's ear. "They're building a steam ball."  
" A what?" Todd's mouth dropped in amazement, he had only heard of steam balls as theories. They were supposed to be the appidimy of a steam engine, the best of the best.  
Tom sighed, the secret was out and a small glint shone in his eye as he spoke. "A steam ball, an object that can hold steam under enormous pressures and power machines with twice the power of a steam engine."

"Wow." Todd could only imagine the possibilities. New machines more powerful than ever. Not only that, put portable. Steam powered devices where always huge, heavy, and had too many knobs for Todd's taste. The steam ball would fix all that and make things more manageable.

"Yes unfortunately the machine we tried it with was built for a coal engine. We're trying to convert it to take steam." He nudged in the direction of the machine billowing out the smoke, it had lessened now and an old man, probably in his early fifties came out from behind it with a huge coughing fit. Like Tom he was covered in soot. Which at least helped cover his white hair and bald spot. This had to be Dante Howell, the man Todd had flown over the Atlantic for, his future teacher. When he managed to stop coughing he looked over at Todd noticing him for the first time.

"Who' the redheaded lad?" The old man said. Most people would have thought his comment rude, but Todd had many jokes thrown his way because of his hair color. If he wasn't used to if after fourteen years he wouldn't know what he would do with himself.

"Dad this is..." Tom started but forgot that he and Todd were never properly introduced, he flustered and looked at Todd for a name.  
"Todd Avery." Todd said shaking Dante's hands.  
"He's the new apprentice."  
"Well it's nice to meet you carrot top. I'm you're new teacher I guess. Name's Dante Howell and this is my son Tom." Tom nodded and shook Todd's hand as his name was called, Dante waited until they were finished before he continued.  
"And I'm sure you already meet my wife Margret." The woman who showed Todd to the workshop curtsied slightly showing she was present, Todd gave a curious nod. This was all fine, but he was anxious to see the steam ball machine Dante and Tom were working on.

"Nice to meet you all, um if it's any trouble could I have a look at the steam ball machine?"  
Dante got a puzzled look on his face and after a minute of thinking a smile broke out on his face and let out a hearty laugh. "Ha! I like this kid, doesn't mess or wait around. Yeah alright you can have a look." Todd smiled thanked Dante and ran off to look at the machine. He examined every inch of it, and to the naked eye it looked a simple, old coal powered machine like the kind that powered the old coal powered boats and trains before the invention of the steam engine. When he got to the actual steam ball Todd's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. It was a wonderful piece, a bit crude, possibly a prototype but was still a sight to behold. It was as its name suggested a metallic ball, with multiple pipes connecting it to the machine and a red release valve at the top of the ball to release the pressure when needed. It was all beautiful.

"Fascinating..."

Todd didn't even take notice of what was going on around him until Dante was standing next to him.

"Yes well it'll work better if I could read my son's schematic. Damn thing looks like it was drawn by a two year old. He has the imagination of an inventor, but none of the knowledge. Now come on, I think I smell Margret's wonderful stew."

Todd's stomached rumbled in agreement so he followed Dante out of the workshop and into the large kitchen were Tom was ladling a think looking meat stew into bowls while finished setting the table. Soon they were all sitting down enjoying the meal. Todd who did not have a home cooked meal since he left home thought it was wonderful. He was on his second bowl when Tom asked."Hey Todd. How would you like to work on the machine with me and dad?"

Todd nearly choked on his stew. "Can I!"

"Well..." Dante didn't seemed crazy about letting the new apprentice help work on his biggest project. Mrs. Howell gave him a pleading look. "Dante.."  
"Oh, alright what harm can the lad do?" he said defeated.  
"Yes!"

And together they tinkered with the machine and by the next morning they had gotten it to emit a steady stream of steam. The only problem laying in front of them now was how to hook it up to something and power it. Tom had the idea of making it basically like a coal engine, but with pressure gauges and an injection system for the water. So for the next few weeks they tinkered with the ideas and through many tries had a small working steam engine, the only thing to do now was to show it to the scientific community.


End file.
